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Holy crap, I can't believe this is my 1000th post! I thought for #1000, I'd go back to where it all began. My first car was a Holden Astra GL much like this, only mine was maroon and a sedan. The TR-series Astra, a rebadged Opel Astra F, was only introduced to Australia in 1996, 5 years after it began production in Europe. The Button Plan was dissolving as rebadges like the Holden Nova (nèe Toyota Corolla) were proving unpopular. The Astra was joined by the Vectra, which replaced the Toyota Camry-based Apollo. The Barina had already switched from being a Suzuki Swift to an Opel Corsa. The TR Astra was more or less a stopgap model, the new TS hitting the scene in 1998. The TS, along with the Barina and Vectra, were pretty popular, the Astra especially. The TR? Not so much. Nevertheless, my mum was one of the buyers. She stuck in the Holden fold, replacing a VH Commodore. To her, the TR Astra was a revelation – compact, yet relatively spacious, with a neatly-styled cabin (loved the stripey cloth trim!) and handsome styling. Eventually, she ended up with dad's Daewoo Nubira which she never loved as much as her "little red car" – said maroon paint was extremely faded by this point, mind you. When it came time for me to drive, I had the Astra ready and waiting. Even though the car dated back to '91 (ours was a '96 or '97), it ran rings around the floppy, sloppy Nubira. My Astra had one door that didn't open, three missing wheel covers, various missing trim pieces and the aforementioned faded paint but it was my first car and I loved every minute of driving. And it drove well anyway! The timing belt failed but my parents replaced it anyway even though the car was worthless at that point. Eventually, I saved enough money to replace the Astra and it went back to being the family's "reserve" car until it was traded for, no joke, a weekend's use of a dumpster. The good thing is another first-time driver got to drive it. I hope it's still zipping around! I loved my Astra. #1000 #1000th #1000thpost #holden #holdenastra #opelastra #opelastraf #vauxhallastra #opel #bnecars #90scars #curbsideclassic #curbsideclassics #carspotter #carspotting #carsofinstagram #classics